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1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of bulk electronic mail distribution and more particularly to a system and method for managing bulk electronic mail distribution.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a new common carrier for information which has already signaled major transformations in virtually all segments of society, in virtually every corner of the globe. At this early and fervent stage of development, Internet usage is widespread among individuals and business entities. Among individuals and business entities, electronic mail (e-mail) is an often used component of the Internet. More and more, individuals and business entities rely upon e-mail as a secondary, if not primary, means of communications with other individuals and business entities.
Prior to the advent of e-mail, conventional marketeers utilized bulk mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service in order to reach an audience of potential customers. Naturally, the Internet provided a new, more efficient and less expensive medium to transmit bulk mail. Consequently, several organizations have evolved by offering various bulk e-mailing services. Examples of organizations offering bulk e-mailing services include the Internet Web sites http://www.emailtoday.com and http://www.postmasterdirect.com.
Many bulk e-mailing services offer xe2x80x9copt-inxe2x80x9d targeted e-mail. In an opt-in bulk e-mailing service, marketing material is bulk e-mailed to a list of recipients. Unlike ordinary bulk e-mail lists, however, the recipients in the opt-in bulk e-mail list can pre-register their preferences to receive marketing material relating to selected topics. Thus, a recipient in an opt-in bulk e-mailing list having an interest in automobiles, but not snow skiing, would receive marketing material bulk e-mailed on behalf of General Motors, Inc., but not Rossignol, Inc. Similarly, a recipient in an opt-in bulk e-mailing list having an interest in reading, but not bicycling, would receive marketing material bulk e-mailed on behalf of Barnes and Noble, Inc., but not Schwinn, Inc.
Many of the opt-in bulk e-mailing services permit a customer to select from a number of categorized bulk e-mailing lists. As a result, each categorized bulk e-mailing lists contain a list of recipients having an interest in the corresponding category. Moreover, often, the price charged to the customer for a bulk e-mailing can be based on the selected category. Alternatively, the price charged to the customer for a bulk e-mailing can depend on the number of e-mails sent.
Still, present bulk e-mailing services do not provide an optimized level of efficiency. Specifically, the timing of a bulk e-mail transmission can bear upon the effectiveness of the bulk e-mail. For example, a bulk e-mail transmitted to a business on a Friday evening may not be read until Monday morning. By then, however, the bulk e-mail can become buried among a multiplicity of other e-mails transmitted between Friday afternoon and Monday morning. As a result, the recipient is less likely to find time to read the ill-timed bulk e-mail.
In addition, often the opt-in bulk e-mail lists contain out-dated e-mail addresses for opt-in recipients. In consequence, it is possible for bulk e-mails targeted for a recipient to never reach the intended target. Unfortunately, present bulk e-mail systems cannot identify the effectiveness of a bulk e-mail transmission by recognizing those bulk e-mails not reaching their target recipient. Moreover, present bulk e-mail systems cannot ensure the effectiveness of a bulk e-mail transmission by re-transmitting those bulk e-mails recognized as not reaching their target recipient. Finally, present bulk e-mail systems do not report to a customer on the overall effectiveness of the bulk e-mail transmission. Hence, bulk e-mail customers cannot effectively evaluate the efficiency of a bulk e-mail service.
A method for managing bulk e-mail distribution can include the steps of matching a target recipient profile with a group of target recipients; transmitting a set of bulk e-mails to the target recipients in the matched group; and, calculating a quantity of e-mails in the set of bulk e-mails which have been successfully received by the target recipients. If the calculated quantity does not exceed a prescribed minimum quantity of successfully received e-mails, the matching, transmitting and calculating steps can be repeated until the calculated quantity exceeds the prescribed minimum quantity. Notably, in the preferred embodiment, the group of target recipients is an opt-in list.
The transmitting step can comprise the steps of: selecting among the group of target recipients a subset of target recipients; and, transmitting the set of bulk e-mails to the subset of target recipients. Where a subset of target recipients is selected among the group of target recipients, the repeating step can comprise the steps of: if the calculated quantity does not exceed the prescribed minimum quantity of successfully received e-mails, selecting among the group of target recipients a new subset of target recipients and repeating each of the matching, transmitting and calculating steps using the new subset of target recipients until the calculated quantity exceeds the prescribed minimum quantity.
A method for managing bulk e-mail distribution can further comprise the steps of: calculating an assessment corresponding to the prescribed quantity of e-mails and the target recipient profile; and, charging the assessment to a subscribing marketeer. Moreover, the method can further comprise the steps of: calculating among the quantity of e-mails in the set of bulk e-mails which have been successfully received by the target recipients, a quantity of e-mails opened by the target recipients. If the quantity of opened e-mails does not exceed a prescribed minimum quantity of opened e-mails, each of the matching, transmitting and both calculating steps can be repeated until the quantity of opened e-mails exceeds the prescribed minimum quantity.
In the preferred embodiment, the transmitting step can include the steps of: specifying a date and time for transmitting the set of bulk e-mails; and, transmitting the set of bulk e-mails to the target recipients in the matched group at the specified date and time. In addition, the method can further comprise the step of generating a status report identifying a quantity of e-mails successfully transmitted to the target recipients and a quantity of e-mails successfully received by the target recipients. The status report can further identify e-mails opened by the target recipients. Finally, the status report can be transmitted by e-mail to a subscribing marketeer.